A third pilot shipment of the Rajin-Khasan logistics project began on Tuesday.
 
The project involves transporting black coal from Russia’s Khasan to North Korea’s Rajin Port via a 54-kilometer railway and then loading the coal onto cargo ships for delivery to South Korea.
 
A delegation of 20 people, including representatives from POSCO, Hyundai Merchant Marine, the Korea Railroad Corporation and the government, arrived in Vladivostok, Russia on Monday and will visit Rajin Port on Tuesday to carry out on-site inspections.
 
The pilot shipment, which will take 14 days until November 30, will transport 120-thousand tons of Russian soft coal to Gwangyang and Pohang Port and ten containers of Chinese mineral water to Busan Port.
 
The delegation will inspect whether two ships can simultaneously dock at Rajin Port as well as the port's cargo handling capacity.
 
The delegation includes three members of the presidential committee for unification, including Kim Joo-hyun, who heads the economic subcommittee.
 
The members are said to have been included to determine the potential for progress in the Rajin-Khasan logistics project, which was recognized as an exception to Seoul's economic sanctions against Pyongyang.